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Tuesday, July 03, 2007

Warming Winter Food

I realise that the cold I complain about is 10 times warmer than most people experience in winter. But you'd be surprised how quickly you acclimatise to warm weather. To beat the chill, we've been having lots of oven-centred meals.

Like these wraps.

Some sauteed mushrooms and red capsicum, paired with...

Roasted potatoes with eggplants. They were wrapped up and topped with avocado and creamy tahini-lemon-garlic dressing.

Tater tots are a delicious, comforting, soul-warming food. They make a perfect side dish to any oven meal (so long as it doesn't already feature potatoes).

We had the tater tots with these medfounas, or Moroccan-style pizzas. I got the recipe from a cookbook in the library, The Vegetarian Table: North African Cuisine. Next time I'll roll the dough out thinner, and leave them in the oven to get a bit browner (we were hungry!).

Curry noodles. Coconut milk, beetroot greens, carrots, mushrooms, and potato came together with fresh hokkien noodles and green peas in this spicy dinner made by Andy.

And now, for a kitchen disaster story. Though Andy usually hates pumpkin (aka squash in North America), on Saturday we both felt like some pumpkin soup. We got a butternut pumpkin, and boiled it till it was soft. I mashed it a bit in the pot, then mixed in some silken tofu to make the soup extra creamy and rich. I put it in our mini chopper (we don't have a blender or food processor), and pulsed for a second, but it squirted out the sides at me! Where the lid meets the bowl, apparently there isn't a very good seal. It made a big mess, with pumpkin soup every where.

I wasn't brave enough to try it again, so the soup was chunky and the tofu unblended. I tried my best with a slotted spoon to make it smooth, but this was the result.

Yum! I want those wraps!! Sorry about the soup. I've done similar with my blender, but it's not my blender seal (it's pretty much a brand new blender), it was the soup that was too hot that was the problem. I always have to let stuff cool for a while then blend it then reheat it over the hot plate. Maybe it was the same deal with your mini chopper? It's so nice to see other people's disasters, seeing as I post so many of my own!

Hey, you can complain away. It's been chilly for the last week in Syracuse- only in the 60's! Gasp! When you're used to weather in the 80's or 90's, the 60's can be shockingly cold, so I know where you're coming from. Fab warming foods!

We were just in Buenos Aires, where it was winter (more like Philly's fall, but chilly). It's amazing how your body really does crave seasonal foods. We left berries and sat down to clabazo (similar to pumpkin) in BA--and it suited us just fine.

Just found your blog and had to say hello. (-: Your recipes and blog entries were all fun to read, but what really caught my eye was what you're studying for your Phd - revolutionary action and social movements? How awesome! Are you studying a particular group or revolution in AU? Is veganism part of your studies or was it a natural progression out of what you learned? Ok, too many questions from a random stranger - but your page sure was interesting to read! (-:

The Tropical Vegan

Vegan food and low-impact living in the Dry Tropics. Navigate using the tags, below, or by looking at the posts I've grouped under headings, across the top.

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Email: tropicalvegan (at) gmail.com

This blog is not commercial and makes me no money - it's just something I like to do. The stuff on this blog (recipes, text, photos) is mine, so please don't use it without attribution and a link back.